Vincent Van Gogh in Antwerp

By Dr. Cathérine Verleysen, curator 18th- & 19th-Century Art

‘I find the friction of ideas that I’m looking for here — I’m getting a fresh eye for my own work.’ With these words, Vincent Van Gogh expressed how his new surroundings inspired him. When he arrived in Antwerp from Nuenen (North Brabant) on 24 November 1885, he was 32 years old and had been passionately engaged in his art for almost ten years. The idea of moving to Antwerp had been on his mind for some time, and once he arrived, the artist immediately felt that he had made the right choice. Belgium was not new to him: a few years earlier, between 1878 and 1881, he had spent some time in the Borinage and in Brussels.

In Antwerp, Van Gogh rented a small room in the working-class neighbourhood of Stuivenberg (Lange Beeldekensstraat) from the Dutch couple Brandel. Today, the nearby Vincent Van Goghplein commemorates his short but significant stay in the city. On his studio walls, he pinned Japanese prints. These can be seen as the first sign of a fascination that developed further in Antwerp and would later occupy a prominent place in his work. 

A bustling city brimming with impressions

During his first few weeks, Vincent Van Gogh thoroughly enjoyed everything Antwerp had to offer. He strolled along the quays of the Scheldt, discovered cafés and sailors' pubs, and immersed himself in the colourful hustle and bustle of the port city. He was particularly impressed by the docks, the warehouses and the constant coming and going of people and goods. In letters to his brother Theo, he described Antwerp as ‘a very singular and beautiful place for a painter’ and praised the women as ‘really extraordinarily fine.’ 

At the same time, he tried to sell his work through Antwerp art dealers, but to little avail. As a result, he remained dependent on the financial support of his brother, who regularly sent him money. Van Gogh lived thriftily, sometimes all too frugally, which caused his health to deteriorate significantly.

Nevertheless, the Dutch artist worked hard. During the three months he lived in Antwerp, he painted some thirty-five canvases, only a handful of which have survived. He also made numerous drawings of city scenes and nightlife, among other things.

Visiting museums

In Antwerp, Vincent Van Gogh regularly visited museums, which were then still housed in the buildings of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and whose collections are now preserved in the KMSKA. In the Musée Ancien, he enthusiastically and admiringly studied works by 17th-century Flemish and Dutch masters such as Maerten de Vos, Frans Hals, Jacob Jordaens, Jan van Goyen, Salomon van Ruysdael and, above all, Peter Paul Rubens. Van Gogh greatly admired Rubens' work. He was particularly impressed by his powerful heads, expressive hands and the intense humanity he put into his work. He described how Rubens brought faces to life with just a few ‘strokes of pure red’, a painting technique that made a deep impression on him.

Van Gogh also frequently visited the Musée Moderne. There he became acquainted with 19th-century Belgian realist landscape painting of Alphonse Asselbergs, Théodore Baron, César De Cock, Jean Pierre François Lamorinière, Robert Mols and Jacques Rosseels, among others. Some paintings met with his approval, such as The Old Inn ‘Het Loodshuis’ in Antwerp by Henri De Braekeleer and the historicising paintings by Henri Leys, whom he greatly admired. Others he found hilariously bad, such as the life-size cows by Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven, which he unhesitatingly called ‘horrible’.

In conflict with academic rules

In January 1886, Vincent Van Gogh enrolled at the academy, with the primary aim of perfecting his skills in painting from live models. Initially, he dutifully attended classes in drawing from plaster casts of antique sculptures, first with Frans Vinck and later with Eugène Siberdt. He also attempted to take painting lessons with Charles Verlat. But Van Gogh soon clashed with the strict academic system. His style was too spontaneous, too forceful and insufficiently ‘correct’. The emphasis on antique models he found stifling and old-fashioned. Teachers constantly reprimanded him: he was not allowed to paint, not allowed to work from live models and had to limit himself to classical drawing lessons. The conflict with Siberdt, with whom Eugeen Van Mieghem was to clash 10 years later, marked the break. Van Gogh was eventually referred to a lower grade. But when the news reached him, he had already left Antwerp.

Departure for Paris

On 28 February 1886, Van Gogh left Antwerp. He was weakened but determined to reinvent himself. In Paris, he moved in with his brother Theo and hoped to get a place in Fernand Cormon's studio – which he succeeded in doing. Antwerp had not given him what he needed economically, but it had given him what he was looking for artistically: a new perspective, a sense of freedom and the realisation that he had to keep experimenting. ‘There’s something free and artistic about the life here’, he wrote. He would continue to develop this fresh perspective in Paris, where he became acquainted with the Impressionists and discovered the rich colours that would dominate his later work. Although his time in Antwerp was short, it was an important link in Van Gogh's artistic development. It was a moment of transition, discovery and renewed ambition.